The Prisoner of Heaven

Barcelona, 1957. It the is week before Christmas in the Sempere & Sons bookshop. Daniel Sempere has married the love of his life Bea and they have had a son whilst their partner in crime, Fermín, is busy preparing for his wedding to Bernarda in the New Year. Just when it seems as if luck is finally smiling on them, a mysterious figure with a pronounced limp enters the shop. He insists on buying the most expensive volume on display – a beautiful illustrated edition of The Count of Monte Cristo – and then proceeds to inscribe the book with the words ‘To Fermín Romero de Torres, who came back from the dead and who holds the key to the future’.

Who is this man and what does he want of Fermín? The answer lies in a terrible secret that has lain hidden for two decades, an epic tale of imprisonment, betrayal, murder and love that leads back into the very heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

About The Book

Barcelona, 1957. It the is week before Christmas in the Sempere & Sons bookshop. Daniel Sempere has married the love of his life Bea and they have had a son whilst their partner in crime, Fermín, is busy preparing for his wedding to Bernarda in the New Year. Just when it seems as if luck is finally smiling on them, a mysterious figure with a pronounced limp enters the shop. He insists on buying the most expensive volume on display – a beautiful illustrated edition of The Count of Monte Cristo – and then proceeds to inscribe the book with the words ‘To Fermín Romero de Torres, who came back from the dead and who holds the key to the future’.

Who is this man and what does he want of Fermín? The answer lies in a terrible secret that has lain hidden for two decades, an epic tale of imprisonment, betrayal, murder and love that leads back into the very heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

Reviews

In the Press

"Zafón combines sincere engagement with genre tradition, with clever touches of the literary post-modern....This is explicitly, and joyously, a book about books, about what can be learned from them , and what is lost when they are lost."
Steven Poole, Guardian

"Zafón's characters and dialogue are as lively and full-blooded as ever."
Stephanie Merritt, The Observer

Carlos Ruiz Zafon's writing is atmospheric, descriptive and totally compelling. His words draw such solid pictures in the head of the reader that the sounds, sights and smells of underground Barcelona jump from the page
newbooks

This wonderfully atmospheric, historical mystery is an adventure story of the highest class - fast paced and stylishly written’
The Good Book Guide

Take the Shadow of the Wind Walk

Discover the Barcelona of Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Ruiz Zafón's writing has been associated with the Gothic novel, a genre that has had very few exponents in Spain. And Barcelona is considered a Gothic city by virtue of its architecture. Is there any relation between these two circumstances?

About Carlos

Carlos Ruiz Zafón is the author of six novels, including the international phenomenon The Shadow of the Wind, and The Angel's Game. His work has been published in more than forty different languages, and honoured with numerous international awards. He divides his time between Barcelona, Spain, and Los Angeles, California.